JDF/JMF Translator

[actionHero]

Hello,
I can't find any one product to serve all my devices. I want to use Switch to take a JMF from MIS, translate to send the job data and file to the appropriate device. Then take the JMF when the press is done, translate for my MIS to update fields. I could have 10 different print devices but Switch will know which one it needs.

Another option would be to build a configurator for each print device. Like the HP Indigo.

Thanks for any advice or hints.

[gabrielp]

Sounds like a good use case for Switch. You should break down this integration into segments and try to come up with a solution for each.

For instance, start with "Switch to take a JMF from MIS". What limitations do you have with your MIS? Can it spit out a JMF automatically on some event? Does it need to be polled on a timer to check for new jobs? Will the MIS even create the JMF or does Switch need to construct it?

You can also find folks like Apago or All Systems who can do end to end integrations for you. But if you're up to the task yourself, try to come up with some specific questions and ask around here or on gitter (https://gitter.im/open-automation/Lobby)

Good luck!

[cstevens]

What I did for the JDF configurator may not be the best for your application, but here are my recommendations:

• I recommend using property values in your scripts to populate the various fields you are sending to each press. Then you can use Switch's built-in XML/JDF pickups and path builder to do the mapping from the incoming JMF to your script. Hopefully for your HP Indigo devices you can just use the JDF configurator in this way.
• What you're writing out will be dependent on the interface to each of your presses, but I used a base template JDF file and just added data to it based on fields in the various properties. Open the template as an XML Document, get the node you need to edit with evalToNode() functions, then add any data or attributes with node.addAttribute(). If you're editing JDF you'll need to create a default namespace and use jdf: prefixes in your XPaths (i.e. //jdf:JDF/jdf:ResourcePool/jdf:RunList ).
• If you need to send JMF messages there are some script examples you can leverage in the HP Production Pro product page https://www.enfocus.com/en/products/swi ... int-server

Good luck.

[jan_suhr]

You could try my App "Take notes" it will let you create new XML from datasets and variables in Switch for use in other systems. It can also pickup datasets in several steps and modify/create them along the way.